Camera Advice

[3wt]

Two cents from a Nikon DSLR user. Try to convince yourself to get up to a body that has the AF motor built into it. The AF-S G are great lenses, but expensive, tough to get, and of limited variety. If you get up to the 7100 (If I remember right), you can use a whole host of "cheap" lenses that don't have an auto focus motor built into them. The world of very nice older Nikon lenses gets opened up, and you'll come out ahead in the long run. And end up with a higher end body also.

[ness]

Good point, 3wt. Is the less-expensive D90 is compatible non-AFS lenses too? I think Flysmallie has that one.

[Flysmallie]

Yes it is.

[Nick Williams]

AF is Auto Focus correct? what the difference between that and Auto Stabilizers? With all this talk of lenses and such, I am left wondering, how do I know if a particular lens is of high quality? Aside from just price.

[ness]

AF is autofocus, yes.

Stabilization is a feature that adjusts for slight movement in the lens, like from the natural movement of your hand. If the lens is moving when the picture is taken, the image will be blurry.

[SGFChief]

I used Minolta cameras for years and once Sony bought the rights to the mounts it was a no brainer for me to buy one since I had so many Minolta lenses. With that being said, I no longer use an original Minolta lens since technology has left that old glass in the dust.

I'm on my third Sony Alpha now and I don't even use my original Sony lenses now. Science has progressed that far in the last 5 years that the clarity is no comparison.

[3wt]

Yes the D90 definitely is. I think it may be obsolete and the replacement was the D7000...I can't keep track.

The image stabilization on the new afs-g ed lenses is cool. I can shoot at pretty slow shutter speeds, way better than with film which is all I can compare to. That is a function built into the lenses. I think you can get new lenses that are not afs-g but have the image stabaliztion. Not sure since I'm stuck with a D5000 and have to use the AFS-G stuff anyway.

When you look at the used (or new for that matter) market for Nikor glass, and see how many more options there are and how much more affordable they are, you will wish you spent more on the body.

If you don't want to ever invest in lenses, buy the cheapest DSLR you can find (D3000? or similar) or question if one of the better new point and shoots with better lenses is more your speed.

Good point, 3wt. Is the less-expensive D90 is compatible non-AFS lenses too? I think Flysmallie has that one.

[3wt]

Internet research. Lots of good info out there. You can google Ken Rockwell - his site has a ton of detailed review on Nikon stuff. People have very polarized views of the guy, but for a beginner there is a lot you can learn from him. If you stay within a brand, you will generally end up only buying that brand names lenses. And the brand name stuff is pretty good...the real question becomes what lens selection makes sense for how much money you want to spend...

If you end up Nikon and don't go for the D90 or D7100 - go with the normal kit lenses (if you get both - 18-55 and 55-200 or whatever they are...the 18-55 is a good all purpose lens) they are pretty good. If you want to do natural light, buy the AFS 50f1.8G...I highly recommend it for taking pictures of your kids...It stays on my camera body most of the time...I just have to get a little further away from them sometimes. I think there is a good telephoto zoom that people like, but it's spendy (I think it's the 70-300mm)

If you spend the money, just remember that you shouldn't ever have your camera on the full auto setting. It will take some time, but for anything but snapshots you need more control to make it justify the expense of the purchase.

AF is Auto Focus correct? what the difference between that and Auto Stabilizers? With all this talk of lenses and such, I am left wondering, how do I know if a particular lens is of high quality? Aside from just price.

[Rolan Duffield]

In checking a lens for general quality, there are two primary checks you should make and evaluate. Evenness of coverage from center to corners of the image and sharpness across the full image area.

Evenness of coverage and lens falloff can be checked by taking pictures of a plane piece of white or colored board and checking to see if the density of the image in the corners is the same as in the center. You should make this test outside in the sun to ensure evenness of the lighting. Cheap lenses and some of the older lenses may show darker image corners and will fail this test. You want a lens that does not fall off in density across the entire image area.

If you want to test or compare lenses for sharpness here's a simple way of testing and evaluating them. Always use the camera on a tripod for any sharpness test and make the test in good sunlight. Find a large building with lots of windows, fill the entire image area and take a picture. It's easy to evaluate the sharpness on your computer. Make sure you check the sharpness across the full image area to the extreme corners.

You should check any multi focal length lens at several different magnifications as sometimes those type lenses have a soft spot at some part of the focal area.

I would expect that the higher priced lenses have higher general quality and will not be a concern though you should check them to make certain.

Rolan

[lee G.]

I think i am getting a handle on macro , Flysmallie, its fun!!